Tamping machine



. uw, '9, l1924.

l 1,518,240 A. B. BABBITT TAMPING MACHINE Filed March 6. 1922 .S'SheetS-Sheet 1 A TTORNEYS DEC. 97

A. B. BABBITT TAMPING MACHINE Frmd March e'. 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 `-A. B. BABBITT TAMPING MACHINE Filed March-6. i922 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 In vento-? f @f7/wfg@ WM Cab Patented Dec. 9, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR B. BABBITT, OF KENT, OHIO, ASSIG-NOR T0 THE KENT MACHINE COMPANY, OF KENT, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

TAMPING MACHINE.

Application filed March 6', 1922. Serial N10. 541,270

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR B. BABBITT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kent, in the county of Portage and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Tamping Machines, of which the following is a full, clear', and eX- act description.

This invention relates to a tamper adapted particularly for use in connection with concrete block molding machines, or with other machines such as tile making machines, wherein articles of the nature of blocks or tile are molded from finely divided mai' terial adapted to be compressed in the molds.

One of the main objects of the invention is to minimize noise and shock in a tamper of the type having one or more, generally a plurality of vertically vmovable tampers which are mechanically elevated and then released so as to drop by gravity to produce the tamping effect.

A further object is to provide improved means for holding the tampers in elevated inoperative position and for releasing the same in order that they may function in the intended manner.

A still further object is to provide for'the free vertical movement of the guided tampers and to provide means whereby the downward movement is unhampered by friction in the bearings thro-ugh which the tamper rods slide.

A still further object is to provide a tamper which is efiicient in operation. strong and durable, and which can be produced inexpensively.

The invention may be briefly summarized as consisting in certain novel details of con struction, and combinations and arrangements of parts which will be described in the specification and set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying sheets of drawings wherein I have shown the preferred embodiment of the. invention, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the tamper or tamping machine; Fig. 2 is a partial front view of the same; Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view of' the same; Fig. 4 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in section showing the parts by which one of the tampers is elevated and guided; Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the parts shown in Fig.

4; Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively a side and an edge view of a yieldable shoe carried by the abutment or casting secured to the tamper rod; and Fig. 8 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through a portion of one of the cross members of the frame showing how the tamper rods are guided by self aligning bearings.

The tamper constituting the subject matter of this invention may be supported in any desired manner in proper relation to the apparatus or machine used for molding the blocks or other articles. It may be supported from the floor or from an overhead point, or it may be supported on, and virtually form a part of the machine in which the molding is accomplished.

The tamper as preferably constructed, comprises a rectangular frame which as here shown, includes two vertical side members 10, 10 which may consist of channel members, though other suitable materials may be used in forming these and other portions of the frame. Extending between and secured to thesel side members 10 near the top and at the bottom thereof are two cross pieces 11 and 12 which are preferably, though not necessarily in the form of castings. These cross pieces constitute supports or guides for a plurality of vertically movable upright tamper rods 13, each of which is provided at the bottom with a tamper foot 14 securely but removably attached to the bottom of the rod. In this instance the tamper foot is screwed onto the rod and is then clamped thereto by `a transverse clamping bolt 14a, and additionally is locked in place by a check nut 14". The number of tampers may be varied as desired, but in this instance six are shown.

It will be observed by reference to the drawings, that the tamper rods 13 slide through bearings 15 which are of the selfaligning type, in order that the rods may have as free movement as possible, and so that there will be no binding action in the event there should be a lateral thrust on the tamper foot should it not meet uniform resistance as it descends in the material being tamped. In this instance these bearings 15 are seated in sockets in the transverse members 11 and 12, and each has upper and lower spherically shaped portions, the lower spherically shaped portion being seated on correspondingly shaped bearing lugs of the cross pieces which support the bearings, and the upper spherically shaped por-tions being engaged by caps 16 having on the lower surfaces spherically shaped portions, these caps being secured to the topV surfaces of the cross pieces 11 and 12 by bolts or otherwise. rI"hus as the rods move up and down the bearing members 15 may rock between their seats and the caps, allowing free vertical movement of the tamper rods.

At the rear of the tamper frame, and preferably journaled in bearings carried by brackets 17 secured to and projecting rear wardly from the side members 10 of the frame, is a rotary shaft 18 which is utilized to lift thetanipers. This shaft may be rotated in any suitable manner, but in this instance is provided with a pulley 19 adapted to be engaged by a driving belt. Secured to the shaft at the rear of, and in Athe planes of the tamper rods 18 are a series of lifting arms 20, provided at their outer ends with rollers 21. These arms are rigidly secured to the shaft, preferably by being both keyed and pinned thereto, and they are not only spaced lengthwise of the shaft but they are also spaced apart axially or circumferentially as shown in the drawings, so that the tampers will be lifted successively.

As the shaft and lifting arms are rotated, the rollers are adapted to engage abutments carried by the tamper rods in a manner such that as the rollers rise they will engage under the abutments and lift the latter and the rods and then pass out from beneath the abutments so as to allow them to drop freely. These abutments, the form of which constitutes an important part of the present invention, each comprises a main portion in the form of a casting 22 through which the rod passes, and to which it is secured, preferably by being pinned as shown at 23, and additionally by being clamped thereto as shown at 24. Each casting has a forwardly projecting guide arm 25, and these guide arms of the several castings are guided by vertical rods or bolts 26, which in this instance are supported in front of and in parallel relation to the tamper rods by the horizontal flanges of angles 27, which extend crosswise of the frame near the top and bottom thereof, and are secured thereto. In this instance the outer or front ends ofthe guide arms 25 are bifurcated and receive guide blocks 28 which are designed to slide freely up and down the guide rods 26. By the guiding means above described, the tamper rods 13 and castings 22 are held 'from turning, and are always maintained in proper relation to the lifting rollers 21.

Additionally each casting 22 has a rearwardly extending portion 22a which carries a yieldable piece 29 which the lifting roller is adapted to engage, this part being so connected to the casting 22 that when it is engaged by the roller when the latter is sweeping upwardly, it will yield so as to minimize shock and reduce the noise incident to the sudden engagement of these parts, In this instance the yieldable n1e1nbei' 29 is in the form of a shoe pivoted at 30 to the lower rear part of the casting, the lower face of the shoe being adapted to be engaged by the corresponding lifting roller 21. Each shoe 29 has a hook-like portion 29 designed to engage over a shoulder 22h of the body casting 22 of the abutment so as to limit the downward movement of the shoe relative to the casting 22. The upward movement of the shoe is resisted by a spring 31, which in this instance. surrounds a bolt 32, the lower end of the bolt engaging the top of the shoe, and both the major portion of the spring and the bolt being located in a socket 22c of the casting 22. Thus it will be seen that when the lifting roller 21 strikes the shoe 29 it will yield upwardly so as to reduce the shock and noise, this upward yielding being at a maximum if the roller engages the slice some distance forwardly of its pivot.

If there is little if any molding material in the mold boX into which the tamper shoes descend, it is desirable that the downward movement of the tainpers be yieldingly stopped, and to that end the tamper rods 13 are surrounded just above the lower cross piece 12 with cushioning springs 33, these springs resting on the lower bearing caps 16, so that their upper ends may be engaged by the castings 22.

One other feature yet remains to be explained, that being the manner of holding the tampers in upper or inoperative position, and the manner in which the tampcrs are controlled.

By way of explanation of this part of the invention, it may be stated that near the front of the frame I provide a series of latches 34, one of which is provided for each tamper rod. These latches are pivoted at their upper ends, as shown at 35, in this instance to the vertical flange of the upper angle 27, the pivoting of these latches heilig such that they are designed to swing in a vertical plane crosswise of the machine. Each latch is provided at its lower end with a hook 34 adapted to engage under a lug 22d on one of the castings 22, which as before stated, are secured to the different tamper rods. The lower ends of the hooks are beveled, and the lugs 22d are beveled on one side at the top thereof so that when the latches are released so that they may engage under the lugs, the lugs as they rise will readily move the lower ends of the hooks to one side and then pass above the same so that the hooks may swing under the lugs and hold the tampers in elevated position.

These latches are controlled by a laterally movable bar 36 guided for horizontal movement in brackets 37 secured to the side members l0 of the frame. This bar is provided with a plurality of rearwardly eX- tending studs 38 which are adapted to engage the latches and swing them laterally out of engagement with the lugs 22d of the castings 22 when the bar 36 is moved to the right as shown in Fig. 1. W'hen the bar is moved in the opposite direction the latches are released, and they swing back to a position to engage the lugs of the castings 22, each latch being preferably connected to the bar by a coil spring 39 so as to pull it inwardly to operative position when the bar is moved to the left as just stated. It will be observed that though the latches are simultaneously moved to inoperative position by the action of the studs when the bar is moved to the right, they are independently operable to successively engage and hold in elevated position the several tamper rods when the latches are released by the movement of the bar to the left as the same is viewed in Fig. l.

For the purpose of actuating the bar which controls the latches I employ a hand lever 40 which is pivoted at one side of the frame and projects forwardly soas to be within convenient reach of the operator. This hand lever is connected by a rod 41 to a cam block 42 which is guided for vertical movement in a housing 43 attached to one of the upright channel members l0 of the frame. To the top of this cam block 42 there is connected one end of a coil spring 44 whose other end is attached to the frame as shown in Fig. l, the function of this spring being to normally hold the cam block 42 and the hand lever 40 in elevated position. It will be observed that the outer face of this cam block has a tapered face which is engaged by the inner end of an adjustable set screw 45 carried by the latch controlling bar 36, this bar extending across the front of the housing 43 which receives the cam block, and then being bent rearwardly, the rearwardly extending portion carrying the set screw 45.

Thus it will be seen that normally the parts are in the position shown in Fig. l, wit-h the tamper rods held in elevated positio-n. IVhen, however, the hand lever 40 is pulled downward, the cam block by its engagement with the set screw 45 wedges to the right the laterally movable latch-controlling bar 36 so as to swing the latches free of the lugs on the castings 22, whereupon these rods may move up and down in the manner already stated, through the action of the lifter arms on the shaft extending across the rear part of the machine. The operator will hold the lever down while the block is being molded, or while the tamping action is desired. To terminate the tamping action he releases the hand lever 40 which is then pulled upwardly by the spring 44. At the same time the upward movej ment of the cam block 42 releases the bar 36 and it is pulled to its left hand position as shown in Fig. l by a coil spring 4G which is attached to the bar and to the left hand bracket 37 of Fig. l. As soon as this is done the several tamper rods are caught by the latches and held in elevated position, this occurring successively as the rods are successively elevated.

Thus it will be seen that the objects stated at the beginning of the specification are attained very effectively.

While I have shown the preferred construction, I do not wish to be confined to the precise details shown, but aim in my claims to cover all modifications which do not involve a departure from the spirit and scope of my invention as defined in the claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

l. In a tamper, a frame, a plurality of tamper rods supported by the frame for vertical movement, and provided with tamper shoes, means for successively elevating the rods and for releasing the same so that they may drop by gravity, comprismg rotating lifting arms, abutments carried by the rods in alignment with said arms, each abutment comprising a part secured to a rod, a second part beneath the first and pivoted to the outer end thereof, said second part adapted to be engaged by one of the lifting arms, and a spring between said two parts of the abutment.

2. In a tamper, a frame, a plurality of tamper rods supported thereby for vertical movement, and each pro-vided with a tamper shoe, means for elevating the rods and then releasing the same so that the rods and tamper shoes may be elevated and then may drop by gravity, and self aligning members carried by the frame and constituting guides through which the rods slide.

3. In a tamper, a frame having upright and cross members, vertically movable tamper rods provided with tamper shoes supported by the frame, and means for successively elevating the tamper rods and releasing them, the cross members of the frame being provided with self aligning members through which the rods slide.

4. In -a tamping machine, a frame, a plurality of vertically movable tampers having rods extending up through the frame, means for elevating and releasing the tampers so that they may drop by gravity, comprising abutments carried by the rods projecting forwardly and rearwardly therefrom, lifting members adapted to engage the rearwardly projecting portions of said abutments, means for holding the tampersin elevated position comprising a plurality of latches pivotally supported near the top of the frame and adapted to engage portions of saidr abutments projecting forwardly beyond the rods, and means for controlling said latches, and guiding means engaged by portions of said abutments for holding the rods against rotative movements.

v 5.111 a tamping machine, a frame, a plurality of tampers having rods extending up through the trame and adapted to move vertically therein, self-aligning guides carried by the frame in which said rods are slidably mounted, means for elevating and then releasing the rods so that the tampers may drop by gravity, means for guiding the tamper rods comprising a plurality of guide rods tixed to the trame, guide blocks slidable up and down the said guide rods, and members secured to the tamper rods proj eeting laterally therefrom and engaging said guide blocks.

6. In a tamper having a frame with a tamper rod slidably mounted therein, tamper actuating means comprising an abutment carried by the rod and a power driven actuator engageable during a portion ot' its movement with said abutment, said abutment comprising a part fixed to the rod, an impact receiving part pivoted thereto and a cushioning spring interposed between said parts, said actuator having a path of movement such that it initially engages the impact receiving part and during its actuating movement moves toward the pivot to gradually release the cushioning spring.

7. In a tamper having a frame with a tamper rod supported therein for vertical sliding movement, the combination with an abutment carried by said rod comprising a part rigidly secured to the rod and projecting laterally therefrom, a second part heneath the first part and pivoted at its outer end to the first part, a cushioning spring interposed between the said two parts of the abutment and means for limiting the movement of the pivoted part of the abutment, of a power driven tamper lifting clement engageable with the pivoted part ot the abutment and having a path et movement such that in its upward movement it first engages the pivoted part inwardly of the pivot and gradually moves past the pivot outwardly to gradually release the cushioning spring.

8. ln a tamping machine, a traine, a plurality ot tampers having rods extending up through the frame, guides carried hy the frame in which the rods are longitudinally slidable, means for elevating and then releasing the rods so that the tampers may drop by gravity, additional guides for holding the tampers against rotative movements, comprising a plurality et' guide rods ixed to the trame adjacent the tamper rods, guide blocks slidable up and down the lguide rods, and members fixed to the tamper rods and engaging the guide blocks.

n testimony whereof, I hereunto ailix my signature.

ARTHUR B. BAB-BITT. 

